I get two stickers on my chart for playing with my kids.

Today I played with my kids. Like for a whole hour! I know, I’m also impressed with me!

I'm sorry but I'm just not one of those moms who sits around for hours building Lego palaces, being the mom in "house"(hello that's my whole life, why would I want that role in a fantasy game? But anyway...), and driving the cars in from the hospital to the garage on the car mat. I do on occasion, usually during the weekend, sit down and build a cool train track or start a puzzle. I'll participate in hide and seek (it's actually really fun on Shabbos afternoon with the whole family) and I will even go so far as to admit that I have more than once put on an atrocious blue gown that I personally designed while in Russia and while stylishly blind, and been queen of the land. I'm happy to play with my kids but usually, soon after I start, the phone rings or there's supper to make and I get distracted and bored and I leave.

Well, Zvi and I recently decided that perhaps we should give our middle child, our sandwich boy, a little attention. We came to this conclusion based on the extremely loud way he has been begging for it. Examples of this desperate cry for attention include running back and forth across the house without stopping for hours on end, throwing toys, throwing cheerios, throwing clothes out of drawers and throwing people. We agreed on the fact that along with a set time-out corner and a new chicken timer, he also needs quiet, calm play. And so that is how I found myself sitting on the floor in front of the closet this afternoon searching desperately for pieces to his favorite puzzle.

I tried, I really tried to just focus on the playing but I needed to find the puzzle pieces which meant I needed to sort through the closet and before I knew it, all the games and arts and crafts were out and I was sorting the whole cabinet while simultaneously playing with two children. It was quite an experience. Why I can't just sit still and play and do nothing else is something I wonder about. Maybe I should play with myself sometime. Just drop off the kids, come home, sit down on the floor and build a Lego castle. Or maybe make a town with the menchies and make up their life story. I can still remember Shani, Rivki and Dina- the Fisher-Price girls I grew up with. I kind of miss them.

I could practice for the real thing when my kids would actually be there and then I'd do so much better because I'd rehearsed. Hmmm... maybe I should invite my friends over and we can all bring our dolls and we can dress them and change their diapers. Wait, that sounds like real life! Oh yeah, because it is.
Ok so we'll be pretend princesses and have a tea party! Doesn't it sound like fun? I'm not sure. I think I'd rather be a real princess and pay someone to make me tea.

Anyway, I hope my son benefits from his Mommy playing with him because it really is quite a challenge for me for me to participate for that long. I think I'm going make myself a chart and give myself a sticker for every time I play with him. Then, when it's all filled up, I will go to the dollar store and get myself a new toy!  Or maybe my prize will be the delighted look on his face when I sit down beside him or the opportunity to use my imagination for an hour, or the chance to see my son grown and learn or maybe it will be the one hour of quiet, with no one running around throwing things. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be worth it!